Sometimes You Just Need A Hug
by Chocolate X My Mouth
Summary: After a bad battle and sustaining a bad injury, Nora is found by Caitlin patching herself up. Seeking to make sure she knows she's not alone, she provides the comfort Nora has been longing for since she arrived back at the West house. (emotional with a very happy ending) (implied Snowbarry) (part 1 of Nora Week 2018)


**H** **ey all! I'm trying to do some more one-shots lately; I feel like I haven't done enough of them lately.**

 **So here's a fluff story between a piece of underappreciated family love - Caitlin and Nora. :)**

* * *

Nora sat alone in the med-bay, patching herself up from the most recent fight.

She sighed deeply... Not like her conversation with her mom were helping to ease the pain...

Neither had most of her conversations with Barry.

Somewhere in her mind, she thought this man couldn't be the one who all the museums honor in her time. The one who she had longed to see for years now. It all seemed like a big hoax, and she thought she had walked right into it. Something just didn't add up here.

Never did she notice the small tear that trickled down her face.

Then, she heard the familiar sound of heels coming around the corner.

And when Caitlin saw her, she gasped. "Oh my gosh, Nora! Why didn't you tell me your wound was that bad?"

"I'm sorry!" Nora said, her frown only getting worse. "Please don't be mad!"

"Mad? I'm not mad," Caitlin said, putting on gloves. "I just want to help you, sweetie. Let me get you stitched up."

Caitlin then set to work, applying some numbing to ease the pain. Nora still cringed a bit, but it was much better now that she had help.

"Why would you think I would be mad?" asked the doctor, sort of not meant to be aloud, but she still said it.

"Oh... I've just... not had a good day when it comes to people being upset with me," she sighed. "Its just standard for me to apologize over everything..."

"Well, trust me, I could never be mad at you," said Caitlin, offering a comforting smile. "You've been nothing but sweet to me since you got here, so the least I can do is return the favor."

Nora smiled back, and for the first time... really, since she got to STAR Labs, she felt at peace with herself.

"And... there you go! All patched up," Caitlin said, patting Nora's shoulder.

"Thank you," Nora said, rubbing the stitch. It didn't hurt as much as it would've had she continued her work on it by herself.

She then quickly stood up, and hugged Caitlin tightly.

"Oh, oh!" Caitlin said in surprise, before settling into the hug.

Everything seemed to be pretty happy...

Until she heard a choked sob come from Nora.

"Nora?" she asked.

Another sob.

"Oh... Oh sweetie," she said, rubbing the back of her head as she began to cry. "Hey now... don't worry... I got you..."

"I-I had n-n-no one e-else," Nora choked out, before crying once more.

This sentence disturbed Caitlin... she had no one else? To talk to? To hug? Not even lend a shoulder to cry on? If any of these were the case, Caitlin was even more saddened herself. " _Poor thing..._ " she thought.

However, Nora found comfort, someone to talk to, hug, and cry with in her...

Caitlin hugged on tighter, in fear Nora would think she'd want to let her go.

A few minutes later, Nora's sobs turned into quiet hiccups and sniffles, and pretty soon, she took a deep breath, and sat back down on the bed.

"I'm sorry, I've just... I've needed to hug someone," Nora said. "And also, there's been a lot of held back tears since I got here... I'm so-"

"You don't need to be sorry for anything," Caitlin firmly stated. "Anytime you want a hug, need to cry, you can always call me. I'm... really not that busy these days."

"Its a shame really," Nora said, wiping her eyes. "Frost was such a badass. Dad, in the very short amount of time I knew him as a kid, told stories of how epic you were in the field... he called you the glue of the team."

Caitlin was a bit surprised. She chose to sit down next to Nora, and let the latter place her head on her shoulder. "R-Really?"

"Yeah, you sounded so cool," Nora said. "But... mom always hated hearing him say that. She'd never really pay attention when he referred to you, or even Uncle Cisco either."

Caitlin sighed... she hadn't expected much more than that though.

She had gotten used to her role as a background member of the team. It made her a bit sad to not be helping as much as she used to, but she figured complaining wouldn't do her any good.

"You deserve better," the junior said. "I always loved visiting you before... everything happened. You were the coolest aunt."

"I don't know, Jesse is pretty cool," she giggled. Nora laughed a bit, confirming Caitlin's statement, but backing her own point up.

"One time you and I had the house to ourselves, so you baked cookies and let me help," Nora began. "There may have been a frosting fight..."

The two lightly laughed, and Caitlin hadn't truly been this happy in... gosh, a long time. "I bet you cheated."

"H-How do you cheat in a frosting fight?" Nora giggled. Some tears remained, but they were only there because Nora had long forgotten about them.

Caitlin and Nora then fell into a hush after laughing, just enjoying the comfort in the room; it was something they both had longed for, and it felt so good to finally have it.

"I've already asked too much of you," Nora began, "but... do you think you could ask my dad something?"

"Oh of course! What would you want me to ask him?" Caitlin asked.

"Uhm... can you ask him... if maybe, the three of us could, I don't know... just talk?" Nora asked. "Like, I just-"

"Say no more, sweetie," Caitlin said, patting her shoulder. "Its been... well, probably over a year since Barry and I had a conversation that lasted over ten seconds."

"I just... really want to see you two as friends," Nora muttered. "I want to make sure that part of the future is safe."

Caitlin nodded. Although she didn't fully grasp what that meant, she was sure that Nora's request would be done.

Nora then yawned, and laid down on the bed. "I think I'm gonna go to sleep... I need to do that."

After she laid down and her head rested on the pillow, Caitlin got up and pulled the blankets over her.

"Are you tucking me in?" Nora inquired, a mixture of joy and sadness spreading across her face. "Its... the last time I was tucked in was when I was six..."

"And that's too long," Caitlin said, adjusting the covers so Nora would be as comfy as possible. "Now, you get some sleep. You deserve it."

Nora smiled, another tear threatening to roll down her cheek. Caitlin wiped it away, and turned the lights in the lab off so she could sleep.

"Goodnight, Auntie Cait," smiled Nora, closing her eyes.

"Goodnight, Nora," said Caitlin, lightly brushing her lips against her forehead. "Sweet dreams."

And with that, the heel's light taps sounded down the hall, as Nora fell asleep.

At long last... she had peace.

* * *

 **I hope y'all enjoyed this little piece of fluff. I had a lot of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it :D**

 **I'm hopefully gonna make this a two-shot, but that will be in a little while. For now - Caitlin is totally Nora's mom. You can't tell me different.**

 **See y'all soon! :D**


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